HBS Club of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)
Key Achievements
Currently 182 number of Charter Memberships
New Committee lead is appointed
Sector lead for 7 sector is appointed
5 Events conducted– Majlis, Abudhabi Entrepreneurial Event, Think Tank Kuwait, Oman Event, Athar Workshop.
8 Social Events conducted – BBQ Networking Night, International women’s day event, suhoor,3 Hiking, 3 Cycling
Harvard House, central hub for Harvard Graduates in the GCC region to
Shine Program, one-month summer internship for 30+ students in the UAE in 10 companies, representing Sustainability, Food Security, Tech & Innovation sector
Crossroads 2023 Saudi
Key Updates
08
Social
Events
05
Events
02
Monthly
Executive Meetings
01
Board
Meeting
Committee Leads
Tariq Qureishy
Programming Committee Lead
Responsibilities
- Identify and develop new programs and initiatives.
- Monitor and evaluate the success of events and provide a detailed report.
- Develop brochures and content for outreach to potential partners.
- Plan events and programs to connect with potential members, partners and stakeholders on a monthly base.
- Prepare a supporting structure to execute programs.
- Think Tank, Shine, Drive, Majlis and Crossroads: Event planning, outreach, event execution, and monitoring and evaluation.
Key Achievement
- 5 Events conducted- Majlis, Abudhabi Entrepreneurial Event, Think Tank Kuwait, Oman Event, Athar Workshop.
- 8 Social Events conducted – BBQ Networking Night, International women’s day event, suhoor, 3 Hiking, 3 Cycling.
Priorities
- Team and resources alignment.
- program of initiatives coordinated with countries and industry leads.
- New matrix needs to be developed.
- Introduce a new initiative of making HBS Clubs a Program/Content/Knowledge Partner with some of the biggest and most notable events during the year in return for availability of tickets for HBS Club Members, Branding, Marketing opportunity, etc.
Challenges
- Team and resources coordination and alignment.
Strategy
- More alignd with sector leads.
Hind Abu Alia
Memberships Committee Lead
Responsibilities
- Oversee, update, and maintain member database.
- Outreach for new Memberships.
- Develop a Membership engagement plan and execute mail chimp and outreach campaigns.
- Recruit new members, promote and encourage participation in the Association.
- Ensure that all members have the highest standards of ethics, quality and good personal.
- They should meet the required conditions and the instructions of the Board of Directors.
- Recommend to the Board regarding termination of a Membership who fails to comply with the code of conduct and bylaws.
Priorities
- Develop autorenewal membership subscription with the support of finance team.
- Develop 1-2 more membership benefits.
Challenges
- Membership database clean up for optimized communication distribution.
- Board members becoming charter members-only 3.
Visar Sala
Strategic Partnership Committee Lead
Responsibilities
- Identify partnerships and sponsorships opportunities.
- Secure funds for the Association on an annual basis.
- Develop a sponsorship strategy and roadmap for securing new sponsors, partners and/or in-kind funds for the Association on an annual basis with quarterly updates on progress.
Key Achievement
- Established a running group with sector leads who coordinate and direct action towards sponsors.
- First 2 sponsors identified and conversations are at advanced stage.
- Other potential sponsors have been shortlisted and are being engaged.
- Sponsorship document has been approved and is being tested with potential sponsors.
Priorities
- Expand the group of sponsorship volunteers and transform sponsorship into a structured ongoing process.
- Establish a small group focusing on mega institutional sponsors.
Challenges
- Mobilization of alumni base as a sponsorship vehicle is still at early stage. We wish we would see more alumni actively supporting.
- Penetration of chartered members base is still below target.
Waleed Saeed Al Awadhi
Governance Committee Lead
Responsibilities
- Recommend the nomination of the members of the Committees and the Officers.
- Evaluate the performance of each of the Committees’ members, the Officers, and the Board members.
- Ensure that the HBS guidelines and code of conduct is shared with all Board members and implemented across all levels of the Association’s operations.
- Update the Associations Bylaws and code of conduct.
- Develop a manual that would be considered as a reference point for the Association’s governance system.
- Organize awareness sessions for the Association’s Board and Officers which will help introduce them to new guidelines, policies, and procedures.
Key Achievement
- New bylaw document signed and approved.
Priorities
- Implementation of the new bylaw.
- Define KPIs for each committee.
- Develop a Code of Conduct document for the Club.
Challenges
- Approval Process delayed.
- Team/Committee engagement.
Strategy
- To create best practices for the HBS Club of the GCC and ensure they are used as a guide across all club activities.
Saleh Lootah
Marketing & Communication Committee Lead
Responsibilities
- Individual member communication about Association activities.
- Promoting member content on digital channels.
- Gathering of feedback from members.
- Create the annual event calendar.
- Sign up for new members with payment option.
- Newsletter updates.
- Event updates.
- Sponsorship/partnership options etc.
Key Achievement
- Club Collateral and branding created and rolled out (Crossroads, LinkedIn Posts, Partnership deck, membership emails, etc).
- Increased followers and awareness on social media.
Strategy
- Bi monthly calls with Committee heads to provide input for communication and marketing calendar.
- Dual language posting.
- Develop alongside membership committee a monthly newsletter.
Hala Matar Choufany
Country Activation Lead
Responsibilities
- Individual member communication about Association activities.
- Promoting member content on digital channels.
- Gathering of feedback from members.
- Create the annual event calendar.
- Sign up for new members with payment option.
- Newsletter updates.
- Event updates.
- Sponsorship/partnership options etc.
Key Achievement
- Club Collateral and branding created and rolled out (Crossroads, LinkedIn Posts, Partnership deck, membership emails, etc).
- Increased followers and awareness on social media.
Strategy
- Bi monthly calls with Committee heads to provide input for communication and marketing calendar.
- Dual language posting.
- Develop alongside membership committee a monthly newsletter.
Rohit Dev
Club Relations Lead
Responsibilities
- Individual member communication about Association activities.
- Promoting member content on digital channels.
- Gathering of feedback from members.
- Create the annual event calendar.
- Sign up for new members with payment option.
- Newsletter updates.
- Event updates.
- Sponsorship/partnership options etc.
Key Achievement
- Club Collateral and branding created and rolled out (Crossroads, LinkedIn Posts, Partnership deck, membership emails, etc).
- Increased followers and awareness on social media.
Strategy
- Bi monthly calls with Committee heads to provide input for communication and marketing calendar.
- Dual language posting.
- Develop alongside membership committee a monthly newsletter.
Faiz Mayalakkara
Finance Lead
Responsibilities
- Individual member communication about Association activities.
- Promoting member content on digital channels.
- Gathering of feedback from members.
- Create the annual event calendar.
- Sign up for new members with payment option.
- Newsletter updates.
- Event updates.
- Sponsorship/partnership options etc.
Key Achievement
- Club Collateral and branding created and rolled out (Crossroads, LinkedIn Posts, Partnership deck, membership emails, etc).
- Increased followers and awareness on social media.
Strategy
- Bi monthly calls with Committee heads to provide input for communication and marketing calendar.
- Dual language posting.
- Develop alongside membership committee a monthly newsletter.
Country Head Updates
Basma Alfaresi
Kuwait Country Head
Accomplishments
- Delivering the mission statement of cross roads forum to the Harvard kuwaiti club and further to kuwaiti prominent leaders in private public sectors.
- Think tank event in Kuwait covering governance and best practices in public sector.
Challenges
- Lack of resources defined as back office and human capital who would participate in admin work for events. Initiatives future plans:
- To align gcc board mission to country leads. And aspire to add more personnel to the team.
Thaha Muhammed
Qatar Country Head
Updates and intros to their teams
We have a small team of less than 40 alumni in Qatar, out of which 24 members are active and communicate with each other through a WhatsApp group.
Initiatives completed and planned
- 3 to 4 physical meetings a year with participation of around 50% of active members usually.
- Last meet up was the HBS Alumni in Qatar Annual Suhoor.
- HBS case discussion before June (date to be finalised).
- Planning to do Think Tank and Majlis regularly.
- Already in discussion for having a Think Tank event about
FIFA World Cup. - Followed by a Panel Discussion with the alumni members who were associated with the event.
- Already created a co ordination group with Alumni leaders of other leading B schools and universities, so that we have a good participation.
Resources needed from the club
- Need regional leaders to visit once in a while and participate in the events. Will plan events based on any visit.
- Had arranged a meeting when Harvard Business Publishing Team visited here just before World Cup.
